Contents

Writing conventions

General

In general, content should be written in a style appropriate for an encyclopedia. Descriptions should be clear and precise; speculations or uncertain facts should be avoided.

Do not be overly specific when writing, only as specific as necessary.

Use full sentences where possible.

Language

American English is preferred at this wiki as it is the spelling most Fallout games use.

Colloquialisms, slang, l33t speak and other informal styles are not acceptable.

Game-specific words should always use the ingame spelling, even in cases when it is incorrect. This does not include capitalization which should always follow the rules in the relevant section below.

Perspective

Contributions should only use third-person (i.e. "the player character" not "this editor"). For example, it is proper to use: "Courier," "Lone Wanderer," "Warrior," "Vault Dweller," "Chosen One," "they," "one," and similar, while it's improper to use: "I,' "we", "you," and each of their variations. 'The player character' may be used, but only in its proper third-person context. Keep first-person and second-person sentences out of articles. Talking about your own experiences in a familiar way should be kept to the discussion pages.

Notable exceptions to this rule are as follows:

Bugs sections

In-game quotes/Developer commentary

Transcripts

Tense

Articles should generally be written in present tense.

The only exception are articles relating to events which took place before any of the Fallout games, i.e. before 2161; these may be written in past tense.

Capitalizing

Article page names and links should not be overcapitalized, regardless of whether they relate to in-game subjects or not, and regardless of in-game spelling.

Correct: The Gannon family Tesla armor is a piece of armor in Fallout: New Vegas.

Generic character names should not be capitalized.

Incorrect: A Raider killed a Super Mutant with an Assault Rifle.

Correct: A raider killed a super mutant with an assault rifle.

Species names should not be capitalized. In the same way as cat or dog would not be capitalized, deathclaw and ghoul are also not capitalized.

Incorrect: The Deathclaws were originally created before the Great War.

Incorrect: As with normal Ghouls, Feral Ghouls are extremely resistant to radiation.

Correct: The deathclaws were originally created before the Great War.

Correct: As with normal ghouls, feral ghouls are extremely resistant to radiation.

Names of statistics, perks, traits, skills etc. (e.g. Charisma, Medicine, Fast Shot) should be capitalized when referring specifically to game mechanics. The same words, however, should not be capitalized in other uses.

Incorrect: Joe is an Intelligent or Charismatic character.

Correct: The Lone Wanderer will need high Intelligence or Charisma to convince Joe.

If it's not clear whether a name is a proper name or a common one, naming should be discussed and decided on a case by case basis.

Linking

Do not overlink. Generally, a page should be linked from a given article only once, on its first occurrence. Links may be repeated if the first link is far up the page or if the manner the word is used in makes it necessary (e.g. in summary lists).

Attribution

Do not add any attributions (like "written by XYZ") or dates ("written on 14/02/09") to articles. An accurate record of all contributions to an article is available via its "History" page.